Manuel Pellegrini says the manner in which his side reached the Capital One Cup final is what pleased him most as he looks forward to his first trip to Wembley.

Wins over Wigan, Newcastle and Leicester preceded the two semi-final victories over Sam Allardyce’s men, with a host of goals scored along the way.

“It was a very professional performance,” smiled Pellegrini.

“It’s easy to think that the game was finished after the 6-0, but I think it was important to reach the final winning all the games as we did.

“We scored 19 goals and we just conceded one, so I think it was very important today to finish in the same way.

“I always said the final of the cup at Wembley is always an important cup. It’s always important the way we reached the final winning all the games and I hope now we can win it!”

The Chilean handed EDS star Marcos Lopes his second senior start against the Hammers and the young Portuguese man turned in a Man of the Match performance.

“He didn’t impress me because I see him working every day,” he said.

“I think he is a very good player, he’s just 18 years old, he has a great future and for him it’s very important to play in the way he did today in our team.”

Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo were the names on the score sheet on the night and the manager was full of praise for the dynamic duo.

“I think that for Kun this match was very useful. He played nearly 60 minutes when he was playing just 20 or 30 minutes in the games before, so it will be for him very useful for the future,” he declared.

“Negredo is in a very good moment. So, I think that now with Dzeko and the return of Jovetic, we are now covered for the next match.

“He [Negredo] has some problem with his shoulder, but we will see tomorrow if it is serious or not but for the moment he has pain, but we don’t know what kind of pain it is.”

The Blues will face either Manchester United or Sunderland in the final on Saturday 2 March and Pellegrini admits both teams present tough opposition.

“It’s the same for me, I think both teams will be difficult. We will see tomorrow who we will play, but for me it is the same,” he said.

Joleon Lescott shared his manager’s sentiments when asked about the prospect of a Manchester derby in London.

“There’s no easy game, if United do get through, we know it will be a tough game, but we’re here and that’s the main thing,” he said.

“A Wembley final is very special. Obviously that’s what we struggle to do, to win trophies and long may it continue. We’ve been in and around competitions over the past three or four years and hopefully it continues.”